Huw Edwards named as BBC anchor accused of paying teen for explicit pictures

LONDON — The BBC's Huw Edwards has been named by his woman arsenic the TV anchor accused of paying a teen much than £35,000 (around $45,430) successful speech for sexually explicit photos.

According to a study successful The Sun paper past week, citing the alleged victim's mother, the payments are said to person started erstwhile their kid was 17 — they are present 20.

After 5 crisis-ridden days for the British broadcaster, the woman of the antecedently unnamed TV anchor released a connection to the PA quality agency.

"In airy of the caller reporting regarding the 'BBC Presenter' I americium making this connection connected behalf of my hubby Huw Edwards, aft what person been 5 highly hard days for our family," Vicky Flind said.

"I americium doing this chiefly retired of interest for his intelligence well-being and to support our children ... Huw is suffering from superior intelligence wellness issues. As is good documented, helium has been treated for terrible slump successful caller years."

She added that her hubby Edwards had "suffered different superior occurrence and is present receiving in-patient infirmary care."

"Once good capable to bash so, helium intends to respond to the stories that person been published," Flind added.

The communicative developed earlier this week, erstwhile the BBC reported that a lawyer for the young idiosyncratic had contacted it to accidental that the allegations made by the latter's parent were "rubbish" and that "nothing inappropriate oregon unlawful" had happened.

In a effect to a petition for remark connected the BBC's story, The Sun referred CNBC to its existent reporting connected the taxable and a erstwhile connection issued by a spokesperson for the newspaper.

"We person reported a communicative astir 2 precise acrophobic parents who made a ailment to the BBC astir the behaviour of a presenter and the payment of their child," the connection said.

"Their ailment was not acted upon by the BBC," it added. "We person seen grounds that supports their concerns. It's present for the BBC to decently investigate."

Edwards was suspended and was taken disconnected aerial aft the quality broke past week. New allegations astir the anchor's behaviour from different individuals person continued to look since The Sun's archetypal communicative was published connected July 7.

For its part, the BBC says it had "been asked to intermission its investigations into the allegations portion the Police scope aboriginal work." On Wednesday afternoon, conscionable earlier Edwards was named by his wife, London's Metropolitan Police reportedly concluded determination was "no accusation to bespeak that a transgression offence has been committed."

Timeline of large developments

The BBC directed CNBC to a timeline of events connected its website erstwhile contacted for comment.

In effect to the complainant getting successful interaction with BBC Audience Services connected May 19, the BBC says its Corporate Investigations Team made an appraisal "that connected the ground of the accusation provided it did not see an allegation of criminality, but nevertheless merited further investigation."

The BBC said it tried to interaction the complainant successful May and June, but did not person a response.

The Sun past approached the broadcaster connected July 6. According to the BBC, the paper's claims "contained caller allegations" and it was connected this time that the TV anchor was made alert of them.

The BBC made interaction with the complainant and constabulary connected July 7, with confirmation of the anchor's suspension coming connected July 9.

Speculation and the law

The reports had led to aggravated speculation connected societal media astir who the anchor was, with a fig of high-profile BBC stars publically distancing themselves from the allegations arsenic a result.

Alongside the gravity of the allegations being made, determination are besides perchance superior consequences erstwhile it comes to laws connected defamation and privacy.

"Individuals who station allegations astir immoderate person, including the BBC presenters whose names person been associated with these allegations, bash look idiosyncratic liability for those posts," Matthew Gill, a elder subordinate and media disputes lawyer at London-based instrumentality steadfast Howard Kennedy, told CNBC.

"And if those posts were to origin BBC presenters reputational harm and the allegations were recovered to beryllium untrue — either successful narration to the presenter astatine the halfway of this, oregon others who person nary transportation to it — the idiosyncratic who tweets those tweets, oregon posts those posts connected societal media … could look ineligible action," helium added.

They whitethorn also, Gill explained, "be ordered to wage important damages and costs."

"Now, the world is that an idiosyncratic is improbable to look ineligible proceedings if they tweet the sanction of a personage erstwhile online successful narration to these allegations," helium said. This was because, "frankly, truthful galore radical person posted these types of allegations online implicit the past fewer days."

"However, the celebrities who are not associated with … these allegations but person been linked to it online mightiness see bringing proceedings, for example, against the archetypal radical to person mentioned their sanction online," Gill said.

They could besides instrumentality enactment "against radical who person decided to found a run of trying to nexus the incorrect presenters to these allegations."